Exclusive Photos and Video of the Unreleased Drobo Mini!

Drobo made big news a few weeks ago when they announced the new portable version of their multiple-drive redundant storage platform, the Drobo Mini. In fact, according to CEO Tom Buiocchi, Drobo has already pre-sold a TON of the new Minis, although – kind of like a KickStarter project – no one has yet actually seen one outside of a Drobo lab.

Until Now!

Coming Clean

A few days ago we uploaded a video claiming to have found a Drobo Mini in a bar. You know… just like that iPhone a while back. It was fun…

Alas, nothing that cool happened. We sweet talked our friends at Drobo into actually letting us take one of their development Minis with us back to Dallas. After spending some time with it, here are all the juicy details.

The Complete Video Review

John P. spent some time dissecting the Mini, and we sat down and shot this quick and dirty video for you guys.

What Is It?

The Drobo Mini is a portable version of the bigger Drobo. It has a smaller form factor, with a footprint just over 7″ square and about 2″ tall, and it uses laptop sized 2.5″ hard drives instead of the full sized 3.5″ ones found in the larger Drobo units.

In addition to holding four 2.5″ drives, the Drobo Mini also includes a slot for one mSATA SSD which is used to really accelerate things.

Other Features

The Mini is meant for anyone who wants to keep their files safe while on the go. Videographers, photographers and other people who rely on fast, redundant storage will benefit from the Mini.

Rubberized body for secure handling

4 slots for either HDD or SSD

2 Thunderbolt Ports – with passthrough even with Drobo is powered down

Where To Get One

Photo Gallery

And a few photos we snapped of the pre-production unit. Keep in mind EVERYTHING is subject to change!!! These devices haven’t even gone to manufacturing yet…

So, what do you think? We’re thinking about radically changing the way we do all of our production. Possibly swapping out our MacPros for MacBook Pro’s connected to Drobo Minis! You think that will work? Certainly would make “taking your work home with you” possible.

About Cali Lewis

Host of GeekBeat.TV - Cali has been using new media and podcasts to talk about her passion - technology, gadgets and science - since 2005. Find out more about her at www.geekbeat.tv/about or on Cali's Google Profile.